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Role of age and comorbidities in the quality of life of newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients

ROLE OF AGE AND COMORBIDITIES IN THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF NEWLY DIAGNOSED PROSTATE CANCER PATIENTS
by
Megan Taylor-Ford
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(PSYCHOLOGY)
December 2010
Copyright 2010 Megan Taylor-Ford

There appears to be a paradox in the prostate cancer literature: despite the fact that age and comorbidities are positively correlated, comorbidities are associated with worse physical and emotional quality of life while age is associated with worse physical quality of life but better emotional quality of life. Emotional support and positive reframing coping strategies may help explain part of this paradox in that they may be more frequently used by older prostate cancer patients and associated with better emotional quality of life. In an effort to better understand this paradox, the present questionnaire-based study of pre-treatment prostate cancer patients (n=74) investigated 1) the relations among age, comorbidity level, emotional quality of life, and physical quality of life, 2) age as a potential moderator of the association between comorbidities and emotional quality of life, and 3) an age-specific coping strategy comprised of emotional support and positive reframing as a mediator of the age and emotional quality of life association. Results suggest that age is positively associated with emotional quality of life and comorbidity level is negatively associated with physical quality of life. However, no significant relations were found between age and physical quality of life or comorbidity level and emotional quality of life, nor was an interaction between age and comorbidity level in emotional quality of life confirmed. Age-specific coping strategies were not found to mediate the relation between age and emotional quality of life either, but statistical trends suggest that older patients may appraise their prostate cancer diagnoses as less distressing than their younger counterparts and therefore use fewer coping strategies in general. Suggestions for future research are discussed.

ROLE OF AGE AND COMORBIDITIES IN THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF NEWLY DIAGNOSED PROSTATE CANCER PATIENTS
by
Megan Taylor-Ford
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(PSYCHOLOGY)
December 2010
Copyright 2010 Megan Taylor-Ford